A Walk in Your Shoes
by how you make the color blue
Summary: Mal and Chad have always run in very separate social circles. They've never spoken to each other (if you don't count Mal yelling at him during Family Day) and they're certainly not friends. But when a spell gone wrong puts Mal in Chad's body and Chad in Mal's, can they learn to work together to fix their problem? They're not so sure, and Spring Ball is right around the corner...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, everybody! I'm so excited to start sharing my work with you. This first story has been bouncing around in my head for a while now, and it should be around 30 chapters long. If you like it, review. If you don't like it, please tell me what I could do better (constructive feedback only, no flames please!) I'm so excited to know what you think! This first chapter is just a lead-in to set up for the main plot. The next chapter should be out in a couple days. In the meantime, please enjoy!**

 **xoxo**

 **how you make the color blue**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Descendants. All rights go to Disney.**

Chad was pissed. Three minutes into tourney practice and Jay had already "accidentally" managed to whack him across the face with his tourney stick. He suspected that Jay still hadn't exactly forgiven him for the incident at Family Day, where he may or may not have insulted all of the VKs and tried to manhandle Evie. _Maybe you should just apologize,_ a little voice whispered in his head. Chad brushed it off. To apologize would mean he was wrong, and Charmings were never wrong. At least, that's what he told himself as he pulled open the door to the infirmary. He hoped Fauna would be there. Out of the three fairies who worked there, she was the nicest and the gentlest when dealing with tourney injuries. He walked in and froze. He had heard Mal had been working there for a little bit (something along the lines of "she's a fairy, so she's naturally good at healing"). Well. He thought Jay was still mad at him, but there was no doubt in his mind that Mal was. He watched her as she tended to Aziz (he had somehow run into the goalpost) with a sick feeling in his mind. He KNEW Mal wasn't going to be very gentle with him, most likely figuring that it was what he deserved. Mal turned around, and he looked down. Maybe if he looked really hurt, she would take pity on him. No such luck. An ice pack came flying at his face, and he just barely managed to catch it. "Hold it to your face. I'll be there in a minute," she said brusquely, turning back around to finish taping up Aziz's nose.

"Okay." He didn't really know what else he could say. He held it up to his eye and almost whimpered in relief as the pain subsided. He could hear Aziz and Mal talking, which surprised him. He hadn't realized they were friends. Mal finished with Aziz and grabbed a second roll of bandages, along with some muttered instructions. Aziz stood up, thanked Mal, and walked out. A deafening silence settled over the room, and Chad itched to do something, anything, to break it, as she walked over and sat on the bed beside him, stony-faced. As she reached over him to grab a wet washcloth, Chad dared to say something. "How's your mom?" Her eyes widened for a second before they narrowed, and Chad mentally kicked himself for being so stupid. He could have picked any topic, but of course he had to open that can of worms.

"Fine," she said. And then she looked at him, almost daring him to press her further.

"Good," he said. He could almost hear her rolling her eyes. She started dabbing at his face, clearing all of the dried blood off of the long scratch and mercifully, leaving his black eye alone. She exhaled through her teeth, and Chad anticipated her next question right before it came.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Tourney stick hit me in the face," he said nonchalantly, even though it really did feel like his face was falling off. He saw her face contort almost like she was having a seizure, and then he realized she was fighting to keep back a laugh.

"Stupid boys and their stupid games," she muttered, and Chad snorted.

"You didn't think it was so stupid when Ben asked you out at the end of one," he needled. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he wished he could take them back. He could see, quite clearly, the hurt look in her eyes, before she masked it with anger. He felt like taking the tourney stick and hitting himself in the head. Everyone knew that she and Ben were "taking a break", but he had just forgotten in the heat of the moment.

"You know what?" she all but snarled, "I think we're done here." She threw the wet washcloth to the floor and stood up.

"Wait!" Chad yelped. His face was still hurting like hell, and he really didn't want his best chance of making it feel better to walk out the door. She paused, her eyes glimmering. "I'm sorry." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. She turned around to face him, looking slightly more calm than she had five seconds ago.

"For what?" The question hit him hard. For what? _I'm sorry for making fun of you and Ben. I'm sorry for not being nicer to you when you first got here. I'm sorry for calling your best friend a gold digger and a cheat. I'm sorry for trying to punch the boys you grew up with in the face. I'm sorry I'm such an idiot sometimes._ But he couldn't make any of that come out of his mouth, and so instead, he gave her a shrug. She stared at him hard for a second, as if she was trying to figure him out, and then she turned back around.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." She walked out the door without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, everybody! Thanks for reading, first off. I hope you liked it. The story should start to pick up soon, so please keep reading! Also, shoutout to the one person who reviewed: Kat liu. I'm glad you liked the first chapter. I agree, Chad is a little nicer in this one (because I felt like he was very Disneyesque and didn't have very much depth in the movies) and I thought it would be nice to explore his character further. Please let me know if you think he's too OOC, though. And lastly, please read and review! I would love to hear your thoughts on what I could do better.**

 **Until next time!**

 **~how you make the color blue**

It was late, too late to be standing in front of the girls' dorms, but that's what Chad Charming was doing anyway. He had gritted his teeth through the pain, but it was getting unbearable. He had asked for one of the three fairies, only to find that they were on vacation. That meant he was going to have to swallow his pride and ask Mal for help, because he seriously thought he might faint. He looked down at the dorm number written on his palm. 106. Ben had given it to him without a second thought, being the trusting best friend that he was. He found the door but hesitated outside of it, wondering all of a sudden if this was such a good idea. It was decided for him when the door flew open and Mal stormed out, colliding with him and knocking both their bodies to the floor. Chad picked himself up first, and deciding that it was in his best interest to not put Mal in any worse of a mood than she already seemed to be, offered a hand to help her up, which she swatted aside. He noticed her eyes were red-rimmed but decided against saying anything. She spoke before he could, anyway.

"What is your problem?" she all but yelled in his face. Before he could respond, she carried on: "I hate you! You insist you love me but then you cheat on me and expect me to come running back to you when you feel like having me again! Well, guess what? I'm not like your other bitches. I'm better than that." She finished her spiel and finally looked at him. Her mouth fell open and Chad could see the glint of fear in her eyes before she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a corner. Her voice was hushed and angry. "That...was not meant for you to hear. I thought you were someone else," she said. Chad could only nod. He didn't really want to ask Mal for any favors and end up even more disfigured, but he couldn't see another way out. He cleared his throat nervously.

"Would you mind fixing my face?" Mal looked at the long cut.

"Oh. Sure," she muttered, raising one finger as green light started pulsing from it. He stared at her.

"You're going to use your magic...to fix my face?" he questioned, hoping he didn't sound too apprehensive and Mal took it as an insult. Fortunately, she only nodded.

"If that's okay with you. I'm not going down to the infirmary now, so you can get it healed with magic or wait until the morning." Chad was still a little wary, but he did figure Mal would get in trouble if she tried anything, so he bobbed his head.

"Good," she said, already touching her finger to his face. "But you're going to have to visualize what you looked like before, so the magic can work. Close your eyes." He did as he was told and pictured himself before tourney practice. "Shit!" Mal suddenly cursed and he thought of her, just as the spell took effect.

"What was that for?" he questioned, deciding against telling Mal that he hadn't visualized himself the whole time.

"Hit my elbow on the wall when I tried to move closer to you," she said flatly. "The spell will take effect overnight. You'll be back to normal in the morning." Chad nodded and sucked on his teeth. She was still standing there, and it suddenly occured to him that she might be waiting for gratitude.

"Um, thanks," he said awkwardly, already turning around to leave. She stepped back and started walking back to her dorm. He had just turned the corner when she called,

"Please don't let Jay hit you with any more tourney sticks." Chad smirked and kept walking. Only later did he wonder how she had known it was Jay.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! I know, another update so soon? It's just to tide you over and give you a sense for the central plot, because the next chapter probably won't be out for another few days. As always, read and review!**

 **~how you make the color blue**

The sunlight was streaming in through the windows, and Chad was not impressed. Whose idea was it to leave the curtains open anyway? Aziz liked to sleep in as much as he did, and he couldn't believe he would do something like this. He turned over and buried his face into the pillow, but stopped when he heard a distinctly female voice shout,

"Mal, get up! You said you would come dress shopping with me, Jane, and Lonnie today!" _What?_ His eyes opened a crack. Why were Evie and Mal in his bedroom? Groaning, he sat up, and came face-to-face with Evie. "Oh, good, you're up, sleepyhead!" she giggled, turning back around. ""Come on, we're meeting them in an hour." Ok, so Chad was really confused now. Why was Evie calling him Mal? And, come to think of it, why was he in a girl's bedroom? Maybe he was dreaming. That was the only explanation for what he could possibly be doing, especially now that Evie was getting undressed in front of him. He instinctively looked down to make sure he wasn't too excited, and realized he was staring directly down the nightgown he was wearing. Yes, Chad Charming had boobs. And those legs definitely weren't his, come to think of it. He grabbed his face and felt purple locks fall through his fingers. He slowly touched every inch of his face, realizing that everything felt smaller and daintier. Okay, time to panic. He almost fell out of bed as he rushed for the bathroom. Once he was there, he stopped, almost afraid of what he was going to see in the mirror. He steeled his nerves and looked up. He was staring right at Mal. Chad screamed, heard his very female voice, and screamed some more. Evie came running in, and started waving her hands in his face, asking what was wrong, but all he could think was, _I need to get to Mal right now._

Mal was currently sleeping in a very dark room. Oh, but that was nice. She couldn't believe Evie had shut the curtains, but she sure as hell wasn't complaining. More sleep was something she could definitely use. All of a sudden, there was a loud banging on the door, and Mal woke with a start. If it was Audrey, she was going to bash her head in. She sat up, fisting the blankets in her hands, but Evie got the door before her. She was surprised to see Ben on the other side, and for a second, her heart leaped, before she realized that she was supposed to be mad at him, and she quickly scowled.

"Listen, Aziz," Ben was saying, "Don't you thi-" _Wait, what? Aziz? What's he doing here?_ She tuned back in to see Ben make eye contact with her. "Hey, Chad," he said, giving her a wave before he headed back down the corridor. _Chad?_ She turned around, but no one was there. She was starting to get a very bad feeling about the whole thing, especially when her roommate turned the light on and apparently, it was not Evie, it was Aziz. And she was in a boy's dorm. With clothes all over the floor. Mal fought the urge to gag as she stood up and nearly fell over. Her whole body hurt, and she felt really big for some reason. She looked at her hands, and almost screamed. They were men's hands. Slowly, and with shaking fingers, she touched her face. Everything felt broader, but also smooth, and she just knew it wasn't her face.

"Hey, Chad!" Aziz said. "Are you feeling up your face because you're not handsome enough to feel up any girls?" He laughed at his own joke.

"Screw you," Mal snarled. Aziz blanched.

"Hey, SORRY. Jeez, what crawled up your butt?" _Whoops. I guess that's not what Chad would usually say._

"Just a little tense," she said, forcing herself to sound calm. If she really was Chad, she had to at least act like him so people wouldn't start to wonder.

"Hey, I'm going to grab breakfast." Aziz's voice broke the silence. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, sure," Mal said, forcing a smile. "Just let me get dressed and I'll come find you." Aziz shrugged.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait for you?" he asked. Mal forced a smile. Oh, this was not good.

"No, you go ahead, really. I'll be there soon." Aziz hovered by the doorway, looking like he wanted to argue, but he just nodded his head and walked out. Mal let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. She had to get dressed, but first, she had to find Chad.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, everybody! I know this is earlier than I said it would be, but I had it done, so I felt like I should post it. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! I hope you guys are enjoying the story. Please feel free to PM me with anything you think I should add. I may or may not take your suggestions, but I would love to hear them! See you with a new update soon, hopefully, and as always, please review!**

 **~how you make the color blue**

Mal was currently sitting on Chad's bed, praying that he would have the common sense to come find her. After about ten minutes of sitting in silence, though, she realized she would have to go to breakfast before Aziz came back up to find her. Grimacing, she turned to the wardrobe that she assumed was Chad's, seeing as Aziz had pulled his clothes from the other one, and opened it. There were lots of shirts and suit jackets hanging from the small rack, and a few drawers that Mal assumed held pants and other articles of clothing. She decided to start with the shirts. Holding them at arm's length, she matched them against the jackets before deciding on a white shirt with a navy blue jacket. She couldn't go wrong with that. Tossing the shirt on the bed, she decided it was like pulling off a bandaid- better to get it over with quickly. In one swift motion, she pulled the pajama shirt off her and quickly threw the other shirt on, doing up the buttons as fast as she could. At which point she realized she had done them wrong and had to unbutton them again. Sighing, she went over to the mirror and realized two things:

1\. She had some serious bedhead.

2\. Chad had a really defined six-pack.

She chose to ignore her brain as she did up the buttons again, correctly this time, and put the jacket on top. Let's see, what was she missing? Right, a tie. Well. She had no idea how to tie a tie, so she decided not to wear it. It wasn't like she could do anything about it anyway. She'd just say she forgot if anybody asked her about it. She pulled out a pair of navy blue pants to match the jacket, and then proceeded to sit on the bed for five minutes with her face in her hands. There was no way she could do this. Eventually, deciding that she was tougher than this (but also, she was getting kind of hungry) pulled off his pajama pants. There was no way she was touching his underwear, so she just put the pants on. She could handle dirty underwear. It only took her two minutes to put on socks and shoes, and then she was out the door, booking it down to breakfast, and praying Chad hadn't already done anything stupid in her body.

At breakfast, she quickly found Aziz and Ben, and took a seat next to them. Grabbing a roll, she quickly bit into it. Why were boys so hungry ALL. THE. TIME? Just as she was reaching for an apple, Aziz nudged her, his eyes dancing mischievously. "Look at Mal."

"Huh?" Mal momentarily forgot she wasn't herself, and it took her a moment before she caught up and followed Aziz's gaze to the table she usually sat at, where Chad, who looked to the rest of the world like her, sat, obliviously eating a muffin, and very obviously, wearing no bra underneath the sheer shirt he had somehow picked out. She heard someone whistle, and she just knew she was turning red. That was it. Chad Charming was a dead man.

 _Flashback_

 _Chad had been going through Mal's drawers for the last twenty minutes, wishing that she owned a sweatshirt or something that he could just put over her pajama shirt. Of course, she didn't, so there was no way around it: he was going to have to take off her clothes. He grabbed a silky black shirt that would be fine, and closed his eyes. Quickly, he made the switch, and stood up in relief. The pants were the easy part-he grabbed a ripped blue pair and pulled them on. No way was he touching her underwear. Sighing in relief, he headed down to breakfast. He was hungry, and he just hoped they would have those blueberry muffins that he really liked, with the crumble on top. Choosing to ignore the two boys blatantly looking at his chest as he made his way downstairs, he busied himself with thinking about anything but running water._

Chad was sitting with Jay, Carlos, and Evie, and not really participating in the conversation, when he saw himself come over to their table. Well, that explained where Mal was. She was currently glaring at all of them with an expression that looked really unseemly on his face, he realized. Jay didn't look too impressed.

"Go kill yourself!" he barked as a way of greeting. Mal didn't even flinch.

"If I wanted to, I'm sure I could climb your ego and jump to your IQ." Chad flinched this time. Was that really how he sounded? He didn't realize he was so horrible to them. Jay, however, was not about to be outdone.

"We all know you suck at Tourney, Chad. I'm impressed you're still on the team-a butterfly could tackle better than you, and I can't remember the last time you did anything but warmed the bench. And you can't even get Audrey to stay, can you? You really are pathetic." Chad's blood boiled. But he stayed calm, reminding himself that he looked like Mal, and praying that Mal had a good comeback.

"Wow," Mal said coolly. "Is your ass jealous of all the shit that just came out of your mouth?" Chad fought to keep a smile off of his- excuse me, Mal's- face. Jay's mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. "Anyway," Mal continued, "I came to see Mal." If it was weird for her to talk in third person, she didn't show it. "She fixed my face after you messed it up, and I was supposed to come back today to make sure everything healed right." Evie finally spoke up.

"Can you have her back soon? We're going dress shopping in twenty minutes." Mal shrugged.

"Sure. It should only take five." And with that, she grabbed Chad and pulled him to a corner where they could talk.

"What were you thinking?"

"What happened?"

"How do we fix this?"

"What did you do?"

"What did _I_ do?" Their questions overlapped until Mal finally took a breath. Chad stopped, too. He could tell she was trying to keep her voice calm.

"Why, in heaven's name- are you wearing no bra?" Chad blanched. There was something he had forgotten.

"I don't know!" he yelped, instinctively defending himself. "I forgot I needed it!" Mal sighed.

"Ok, so you're going to head back to my dorm and put on a bra, and then go meet Evie for dress shopping." She turned like she was about to head back to the cafeteria, but then stopped. "Do you have any idea how this could have happened?" _Probably because you scared me and so then I thought of you when you were working your magic_ , Chad thought.

"No," he said out loud. Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you sure you only thought about yourself last night?" _No._

"Yes." She sighed. "Okay, well, for now, we're just going to have to pretend to be each other." Chad nodded.

"Okay." She subconsciously tucked hair that wasn't there behind her ears.

"I'm going to go back to the cafeteria, then, and to the library after that, to see if I can figure anything out." Chad gulped. He'd just realized something that he didn't want to admit to Mal, not in the slightest. But he figured he had to.

"Mal?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back! Sorry for the long wait- I promise I will be trying to update more regularly. This chapter is slightly longer, I think, and it should be pretty interesting. Please read and review, and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon!**

 **xoxo**

 **how you make the color blue**

"No," Mal said flatly. "Absolutely not. Hold it." Chad groaned.

"But Mal-"

"No."

"But what if I piss myself while I'm dress shopping?"

"You're not going to. Suck it up."

"Mal, I can't hold it forever. Wouldn't you rather help me now so I don't look bad, in your body, in front of all your friends?" Mal rubbed her forehead.

"Fine. Let's go." Chad sighed with relief and started walking down the hall.

"Wait, Mal- where's the nearest girls bathroom?"

"Right there." Chad pushed the door open and Mal started to follow him.

"Mal!" Chad hissed. "You can't go in here! You look like a boy, remember?" Mal stopped for a second, and then slowly smirked.

"What's the problem? I look like you. I can't get in trouble for this." She went all the way in and pushed the door closed. Mercifully, there was no one there. Chad sighed, and turned to face her.

"Okay, tell me what to do."

"Um." Mal paused. "Let's go in a stall." It was a tight fit with both of them, but they somehow made it work. "Okay, pull your jeans down and sit on the toilet."

"No!" Chad yelped.

"Uh, why not?"

"I'm not taking off my pants in front of you!" Mal groaned.

"You're in my body, Chad. I've seen it all. Now do it. This is more embarassing for me than you anyway." Chad highly doubted that, but he shut his eyes tight and yanked her jeans down. "The underwear too, Chad."

"I can't."

"Fine. Don't. You can just hold it."

"Just give me a second." As Mal tapped her foot impatiently, Chad took a deep breath and pulled down Mal's lacy black underwear. "Now what do I do?"

"Now you pee." Mal seemed to find the entire thing boring, and she was now leaning up against the stall and checking her phone. Which reminded Chad- they needed to switch phones. ""Now wipe your ass. It's not that hard."

"I really don't want to touch down there."

"You don't have a choice."

"I'm not doing it."

"Be my guest. See how it feels to walk around with wet underwear all day."

"Will you do it for me?"

"Um, no. Besides, you have to learn how to do it, because I can't help you every time." Chad grabbed a large handful of toilet paper and completely wrapped his hand in it before wiping quickly. "Are you done?" Mal asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Wash your hands and let's get out of here. You only have five minutes until you have to meet Evie, Jane, and Lonnie, and you still have to put a bra on." With that, Mal turned on her heel and strutted out of the bathroom.

"Mal! Wait!" Mal swung around.

"What, Chad?"

"Don't swing your hips like that. You're making me look ridiculous." Mal glared, but slowed her pace and started walking a little more stiffly.

"Is this better?"

"Yeah. Um, thank you." They continued their walk in silence until they reached Mal's room. Chad reached for the door handle. "After you." Mal gave him a nod and stepped in, to Evie's shrieks.

"Chad! What are you doing? Get out!" Mal cringed and started backing up, along with Chad, who seemed to have forgotten that he wasn't himself. "And Mal? Are you two dating?" She directed this question to Chad, whose mouth opened and closed before he finally managed to get words out.

"Of course not. Um, Chad and I were just, um, getting, um, a bra for me?" Chad saw Mal facepalm. Evie looked extremely confused.

"Why did Chad have to come with you?" Both Mal and Chad were at a loss for words.

"Um, Mal was giving my face a final checkup. You know, Auradon, they take every injury way too seriously," Mal finally said. Chad nodded. Evie looked back and forth between them.

"Okay, then. Hurry up, Mal, we're going to be late meeting Jane and Lonnie." She shut the door behind her, and Mal and Chad both breathed identical sighs of relief.

"Shut your eyes, Chad," Mal said, turning to her dresser and rifling through it.

"Do I have to? I'm going to have to do this everyday anyway." Mal sighed.

"Fine. Here, put this on." The bra she had handed him was plain and black. Chad quickly put it on. Mal raised one eyebrow.

"Wow. I'm actually impressed. I didn't know you knew how to put a bra on."

"Well, I know how to take them off." He smirked at her, and to his surprise Mal smirked back, Chad mentally noting that the expression she was currently making looked pretty sexy on his face. "I have one question, though- how far did you and Ben get?" Mal's playful demeanor instantly dropped, and she turned away.

"That's a story for another time." Chad nodded.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to start anything."

"It's fine," Mal said. "It's over now, anyway." Chad wanted to ask more questions, but he got the feeling he shouldn't push her. "You should go. Evie's waiting."

"Right. See you later?" Mal nodded.

"We definitely need to talk. Aziz mentioned something about going to a party tonight, so you can come to mine- I mean your- dorm."

"Okay." Chad turned to walk away, when he remembered something. "Wait! Mal, we have to trade phones."

"Right. Here." Mal handed him her phone, and they made the trade. "My password is CoreFour."

"Mine is 1234." Mal smirked, but there wasn't anything mean behind it.

"1234- how will I ever remember?" Chad grinned and sauntered off.

"Oh, Evie's going to lose her shit, by the way!" Mal called after him. "You're late for shopping!"

Chad was officially not having fun. Not only did he want to refrain from commenting on the size of other boys' dicks, he had no idea what dresses would look good on him. He had grabbed a yellow one, only for Evie to shriek like a banshee, descend upon him, and rip it out of his hand.

"Mal!" He turned around to see Evie waving him over. "I've found the perfect dress!" She all but threw it at him. It was black, with a non-existent back and spaghetti straps. It went down to mid-thigh, and Chad had to applaud Evie's fashion sense. "Go try it on! The changing rooms are right there!" Chad sighed and slowly walked into a stall. Once he was in there, he took off Mal's shirt and jeans, and he was about to pull on the dress when he noticed something in the mirror. Frowning, he stepped closer, and gasped. Mal's entire back was crossed with scars. He ran his fingers gently over them, feeling the raised ridges. No wonder she was so closed off. He suddenly had a blinding urge to hurt whoever had done this to her, and as he tried to get his temper under control, he noticed more scars on her legs, although those looked self-inflicted. He doubted Evie knew, or she wouldn't have offered him the dress. And then Chad made up his mind. He got dressed and came back out.

"I'll take it." Evie squealed.

"Perfect!" They paid for their clothes, and Evie turned to look at him suddenly, her eyes mischievious. "So?" Chad stared at her.

"So what?"

"You and Chad?" Chad fought the blush now staining his cheeks. Jane and Lonnie started laughing.

"Someone has a crush!" Lonnie snickered.

"No! Chad and I are not together!" Chad shrieked. "Anyway, Lonnie, what about you and Jay?" Lonnie grinned.

"Oh, Jay and I are doing just fine. We actually have a lot of fun together." Chad was sorry he had asked. "Why, do you need some pointers? Because I'd be happy to help you. Jay really likes it when I do this thing with my tongue-"

"Enough!" Chad yelled as Evie and Jane laughed. "I'm sorry I said anything." Jane spoke up for the first time.

"Evie, how are you and Doug?" Evie waved a hand through the air.

"Oh, we broke up."

"I'm so sorry," Jane exclaimed. "I would never have brought it up if I had known."

"Don't worry," Evie said. "It was mutual, and we're still great friends."

"So?" Lonnie leaned closer. "Who do you like now? Cmon, spill."

Evie blushed. "Nobody." Lonnie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right. Just admit you like Aziz!" Evie's eyes widened.

"Maybe I do, but we haven't done anything yet!" Now this was something Chad could weigh in on.

"Aziz likes you, Evie." Evie looked up in surprise.

"How do you know?" _Ah, shit._

"Um, Chad told me?" Evie grinned.

"I knew you liked Chad! And he's gotten a lot nicer since Family Day, actually." Lonnie nodded.

"How big do you think his thing is?"

"Ew, Lonnie!" Jane squealed. Lonnie grinned.

"Just wondering. But I'm sure Mal will tell us once she gets to see it, won't you?"

Chad was heading to his actual dorm to meet up with Mal. He had put a long coat over the dress he had just bought, determined to get some answers. However, before he got there, he was stopped by Ben.

"Wow, Mal- you look nice," he said, stepping closer to her. Chad swallowed.

"Um, thanks."

"I miss us. Don't you?" Ben looked so earnest, but Chad suspected it was all an act.

"Not really."

"Well, maybe if we actually did...things," his hand reached out and grabbed Chad's waist, "You would feel differently. After all, how am I supposed to show you the extent of my love if you don't let me touch you?" Chad's blood boiled.

"Maybe by respecting my boundaries. Good night." Chad ducked under Ben's arm and continued in the direction of his dorm. He didn't understand. Ben had been his best friend for a while, and he couldn't believe he acted like that around girls. Normally, Ben was caring and trustworthy, and Chad felt like he could tell him anything. He finally got to his dorm and knocked. Mal opened it.

"Hi."

"Hey. Is Aziz gone?"

"Yeah. It's all ours." She stepped back to let him in, and Chad couldn't help but smile when he saw she'd brought up food from the kitchens. Perfect. But he couldn't get distracted. He had to get answers out of Mal. As they both sank to the ground, Mal turned to him.

"Hey, I managed to go to the bathroom by myself today." No need to tell him that she couldn't aim at all. Chad looked surprised.

"You did?"

"Yeah. It was either that or piss my pants, so I picked using the toilet like a normal person." Chad smiled despite himself. Without thinking, he removed his coat, and Mal gasped.

"Chad, what are you wearing?"

"Oh, right. I bought this dress today. Do you like it?" He swung around to show her the back.

"Chad-"

"No. Listen to me, Mal. I don't know how all those scars ended up on your back, but I'm guessing no one else knows about them, because Evie picked out this dress for me to try on. What the hell happened to you?" Mal was crying now.

"I- You're going to tell somebody."

"Mal, I swear on my life, I will not tell a single soul what went on in this room tonight. This is between me and you." She sniffled.

"My- my mother. Sh-she used to s-say that I was a f-f-failure and-" She broke down again. "W-when I wasn't g-good enough for her, I g-got n-no food, and she h-hit me-" Mal buried her face in her shirt, and Chad felt his heart twist. Without thinking, he reached out and tugged Mal into his arms, despite being more than a foot shorter than she was at that moment.

"Mal?" She looked up.

"Yes?"

"What happened to your legs?" Mal let out a sharp laugh, which startled him. That wasn't the response he had been expecting.

"When I wouldn't go any farther with Ben than kissing, he got mad, and told me that it was probably because I was really ugly and fat, and I believed him." Chad felt the urge to punch Ben in the face again. "It's okay now, though," Mal said. "By the way, I also looked in the library today, and I couldn't find anything about our curse. So I'm not sure what to do."

"It's fine," Chad muttered. "We'll figure it out. When do the three fairies come back?" Mal sighed.

"Not for another week."

"Okay, well, we have to talk strategy then. I'm supposed to have Tourney practice tomorrow, which you'll have to pull off. Anything I should know about tomorrow?" Mal chewed her lip.

"Oh! Planning the Spring Dance!" Chad groaned. "What?" Mal asked innocently, but there was a hint of a smile at the corners of her lips.

"You know what. I don't want to plan a dance!" Chad mock-pouted.

"Sorry, but you're stuck. It's getting really late. You should probably go back to your room." Chad nodded.

"See you in the morning, Mal." She smiled quickly at him. "Oh, and I promise- what you told me- it doesn't go anywhere else."

"Thanks," Mal murmured. "Good night, Chad."

Chad found himself smiling as he walked away. Until he ran into someone- probably the last person he wanted to see at the moment.


End file.
